Best of Bosses 2008(49)

‘You used to sleepwalk a lot?’

He nodded. ‘Especially around exam times.’

‘So it was stress that caused it?’

He shrugged. ‘It might have been a factor, yes.’

And having an unexpected guest was definitely stressful. He’d given her his room, changed his routine for her. Which was enough, perhaps, to have made him sleepwalk tonight. Given that this was his bed, it was natural for him to return to it. ‘So what exactly happens when you sleepwalk? Do you know when you’re doing it?’

‘No, though my eyes are open. Apparently, I used to just walk around the house and turn all the lights on and then off again, and then take myself back to bed,’ Gio said. ‘Mum said they could set their watch by me. It’d be about quarter to ten when I was younger, and nearer midnight when I was in my mid-teens.’

‘So that was it? You didn’t used to make yourself a midnight snack or straighten pictures or anything?’

He actually blushed and looked away. ‘I haven’t done anything dramatic like that girl who was in the papers for climbing a crane in her sleep—or the guy who mowed his lawn in the middle of the night.’

There was a reason for the high colour in his face, she was sure. ‘But?’ she prompted.

‘I tend to take all my clothes off first.’

‘You’re telling me you sleepwalk in the nude?’ Now her initial shock of being woken had worn off, Fran could see the funny side of the situation. No wonder Gio had asked her to turn off the light. Beneath the duvet, he wasn’t just bare-chested—he was stark naked.

‘I was hoping for a little sympathy here.’ He sounded pained. ‘My sisters used to have friends over for sleepovers and they’d stay up to watch me. They knew I’d worry about sleepwalking in front of their friends, and that’s exactly what used to happen.’ He sighed. ‘I even tried putting a lock on my door. Bolting it, too. But it didn’t work—somehow I’d unlock it in my sleep and go and switch on all the lights in the house, then switch them all off again and wander back to bed.’

‘Naked.’ She couldn’t repress a smile. ‘So all these teenage girls would be getting quite a show.’

‘It’s not funny, Fran. Jude used to joke that she could’ve trebled her pocket money by making her friends pay to sleep over at our place. With me as the entertainment. And as for facing them over the breakfast table, the next morning…’ He groaned. ‘No way could I face a bunch of giggling teenage girls. So I used to set my alarm, go to work early with Dad and have an Italian breakfast of pastries and a latte at the café.’

She tried really, really hard to look sympathetic. But she couldn’t stop the gurgle of laughter escaping. ‘I’m sorry, Gio. I’m not laughing at you. It’s just the thought of all these girls lining up in the playground, begging Jude to let them come and stay at your house.’

‘Thanks a lot,’ he said dryly. ‘That really makes me feel good. Not. I thought you said you’d never laugh at me?’

When he’d told her about his first car. Impulsively, she slid her arms round him and hugged him, just as she’d hugged him that day.

But then his arms wrapped round her and the atmosphere changed.

Became charged.

‘Francesca Marsden.’ His voice sounded husky. Sexy as hell. ‘You do realise I’m completely naked.’

‘Mmm.’ She couldn’t quite get her mouth to move round a proper word.

‘And you’ve just put your arms round me.’

‘Uh-h-h.’ Someone had glued her tongue to the roof of her mouth.

‘And you’re in bed with me,’ he said softly. ‘In my bed. Wearing nothing but a very skimpy nightdress.’

The v-necked top was held up by spaghetti straps. But all he had to do was push them down and the soft jersey material would fall to her waist.

She suddenly couldn’t breathe.

He grazed his cheek against hers. ‘This isn’t supposed to be happening.’ His breath was warm against her ear, and then he was nuzzling her neck. Tiny, teasing brushes of his lips against her skin. Everywhere he touched became supersensitive; and she wanted more. So much more. She wanted him to touch her everywhere. Kiss her everywhere. Make her forget the misery of seeing the wreck of her flat.

His mouth moved down across her shoulder, nudging the strap downwards; she tipped her head back and closed her eyes as his mouth found the sensitive spot in the curve of her inner elbow.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this good: but one thing she did know, she didn’t want Gio to stop.